The National Junior College Athletic Association has voted in favor of strengthening semester-based academic standards for the eligibility of student athletes, reversing an earlier move to soften requirements. (MSE)

Charlotte West, a leading candidate for athletic director at Southern Illinois University, may become the only female athletics director at a university playing football in Division I, the top competitive level. She is considered likely to bring men's and women's sports closer together. (MSE)

The National Collegiate Athletic Association's three-person research staff conducts several projects each year and coordinates others by university researchers, but without the publicity from the new rule on academic standards for freshman eligibility. Most research addresses a variety of topics such as athlete academic achievements, injuries, and…

In the out-of-court settlement of an eight-year-old sex discrimination lawsuit, Temple University agreed to give almost half of athletic scholarships to women, sponsor a new women's team, and add new women's program staff. The settlement may put pressure for equitable sports programs on other institutions. (MSE)

Administrators at Southeast Missouri State University may gamble on a controversial public relations strategy that would depend on a big-time sports program to increase enrollment. Utica College, however, will return to the NCAA's Division III after spiraling sports costs and inability to gain entrance to a suitable conference. (MLW)

The passage of the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988 was seen by advocates of women's sports as a powerful tool to redress sex imbalances in college sports programs, but few sex discrimination complaints have been filed as a result. The reasons are disputed and not fully understood. (MSE)

In the wake of serious problems in the athletics program, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's faculty council is investigating the role of intercollegiate athletics on campus, examining athletics department finances and procedures and its relationships with outside support groups. (MSE)

After suspension of its football program, Southern Methodist University has established a course, required of athletes, covering such topics as National Collegiate Athletic Association standards and regulations, dealing with agents and media, athletes' rights, the ethics of drug testing, and the significance of race and gender in college sports.…